The Master's degree in Pedagogical Coordination of ECEC services at the University of Florence

A Master’s degree course in Pedagogical Coordination of nido d’infanzia and ECEC Services was first established in the educational year 2006/07, at the initiative of Enzo Catarsi, professor of General Pedagogy at the University of Florence.The Master’s degree course, which still runs, is one of a handful of specific national university courses aimed at training pedagogical coordinators. A professional role whose importance had already been recognized in the early 1980s, not only in Italy but also in various European countries. Around the year 2000, notwithstanding the lack of specific national legislation regarding the role and responsibilities of pedagogical coordinators, several municipalities in Northern and Central Italy began to appoint pedagogical coordinators, and several regional administrations, including Tuscany, provided for this in their legislation on children’s education. Educators were employed to coordinate education services, which were increasingly diversified in terms of methods and management. In many cases the educators had a university education and significant experience in the field of education, but they did not have specific expertise in the field of coordination.